Tag Archives: frog

In A Zen Wave, Robert Aitken calls it “probably the most famous poem in Japan.”

The old pond;
a frog jumps in —
the sound of the water.

It must surely be the most-translated of Basho’s haiku, or anyone else’s for that matter. In addition to Aitken’s rendering (above), there are another 30 translations available on this eclectic Website, plus Aitken’s commentary. And, for those with an insatiable thirst to drink from the pond, here is a sampling from my favorites: